The Dragon Tamer: Spellbound
by Raven Allerdyce
Summary: PG-13 for language and suggestive actions. Ten months after John left he and Amanda are forced to work together to once again save the world. But will they be able to find love again?
1. Character Profiles

The Dragon Tamer

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the original X-Men or the topic. This is a list of most of the characters that I do own (The major ones).  
  
This is a detailed description of all the characters that I have added. If you wish to read about Kaylin, Allen, Jake, or Sarah. Then you will have to read the character details of Part I.

-=-

Amanda Orlan**=|**

Codename: Basilisk

Age: 19

Hair: Red, past her shoulders and slightly wavy.

Eyes: Honey brown

Power: Create and control fire and electricity in the form of a dragon, the dragon can burn, electrocute, and attack whomever she wishes. However, she cannot create fire or electricity alone without the other.

-=-

Devon Greere=|

Codename: Devon

Age: 16

Hair: Jet black, spiky

Eyes: Completely black

Power: Same as Rogue's, well taught in street-fighting.

-=-

Evan Hope=|

Codename: Gust

Age: 19 (still)

Hair: Spiked black with ice blue tips

Eyes: Black

Power: Create small and short surges of wind.

-=-

Stephen Solace=|

Codename: Diablo

Age: 16

Hair: Dark blonde, one-inch long and spiked

Eyes: Emerald green

Power: EXACT same as Logan's, claws and all.

-=-

Gregory Shoff=|

Codename: Tornado

Age: 42

Hair: Crew cut, black

Eyes: Black

Power: Increased speed and strength. Create winds at tornado speeds that can blow whole buildings miles away.

-=-

Cheyenne Hope=|

Codename: Enchantra

Age: 19

Hair: Ankle length and black

Eyes: Black

Power: Put any human or animal in a spell that binds them to her.


	2. 1 Life Goes On

The Dragon Tamer: Spellbound  
  
(PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. This is Part II in The Dragon Tamer series. I think most of you know as well as I do that I don't own X-Men or the characters (except the ones I make up, you should be able to tell who those are.) Enjoy!

Chapter 1: Life Goes On

-=-

John put his arm around her and pushed her under the water, laughing. She came back up with a grin and playfully spat water onto his face. He laughed some more and they headed towards shore, where Magneto and Mystique seemed to suddenly appear. Amanda drew back and tried to go in the water, but John had her by the arm.

"John, let go! Come on, we have to get out of here! John?"

Before her eyes John's expression changed from serene to extremely. She immediately tried to push away from him, but he held firm. What was happening here? Out of nowhere she felt intense pain, and there seemed to be bells ringing loudly in her ears. Her fear grew as the water directly around her turned a dark shade of red. 

Blood red.

Fearing what she might see, she looked down to see some sort of knife embedded in into her lower abdomen. John's hand was on the opposite end of the knife. Mystique and Magneto started laughing, enjoying the cruelty their apprentice was afflicting on her. The last thing she saw before blacking out was the shadow passing over John's face as she fell back into the water.

-=-

The clock on the wall chimed 1:00 A.M. as Amanda Orlan sat straight up in bed. Her face was flushed and she was sweating enough to fill a large wading pool. She breathed heavily and quickly, but as silently as she could. After all, she knew Rogue was still sleeping. Amanda slowly crawled out of bed and headed down the hall to the restroom. 'Why do I keep dreaming about stuff like that?' Her heart pounded against her rib cage as she splashed water across her face.

It had been ten months and some odd days since Amanda last saw John. 'But whose counting?' She mused to herself. These dreams were recurring about twice a week, and she wasn't sure what they meant. "What's happening...?" Her voice, soft as it was, bounced off the walls and came back at her. Taunting her. She had thought several times about telling the professor, even though he probably already suspected something was up with her. Amanda barely ever wanted to do anything with her friends anymore, as she could barely think about anything but John and these dreams. Her grades were suffering, but not as much as one would think. They went from B range to C range, not too shabby. "I've gotta stop doing this to myself. After all, what would Evan say if he knew that I was still thinking about John?"

The name made Amanda frown. Evan. For the past month and a half she had been dating Evan Hope. It wasn't much of a relationship; she didn't feel much for him. And she knew he didn't feel much for her either. As a matter of fact, she was pretty sure he was only dating her to get attention. She had become somewhat of a celebrity around the mansion, along with Sarah. After all, her boyfriend had been caught sleeping with Sarah. Apparently everyone thought this was the most exciting thing ever, next to the raid. 

Really, the only reason she had said yes to Evan was because everyone was telling Amanda she needed to move on. She was constantly hearing, "It's not like you two were married or something." and "You dated for less than a month, he can't have meant THAT much to you." So when Evan asked her out for the seventh time she said ok. With a hopeless sigh she toweled her face off and stalked silently back to her dorm. This was going to be a long night.

-=-

John fiddled with his new lighter. It was better than his last one, although they looked the exact same in appearance, this one had been messed with so the flame rose up to an inch and a half. As always, he was opening the lid and flicking it closed, making the familiar sound of metal hitting metal. Magneto had gone off to get a new 'friend'. Apparently there was a teenage mutant that caught the media's eye, so the old man figured he would get the creep to join his little 'brotherhood'. Magneto honestly thought he was going to get powerful enough to completely overrule the X-Men eventually. 'Yeah, and I'll be rescued by Mighty Mouse any day now...' 

John sighed. It wasn't like he was being held here against his will. He HAD come back on his own, but it was for the good of the others. They were much safer without him there. A soft breeze flew through the cracked window and made his hair brush against his face. Causing him to turn and look out the glass. 'I wonder what everyone's up to?' It had been way too long since he last saw his friends, and part of him was still praying they would come get him and take him back home. But the rest of him knew that was a childish dream. After all, as far as they knew he was perfectly happy here without them. But they would be wrong to assume that.

He had come close to asking Magneto, on more than one occasion, if he could visit them. But he knew what would happen if he did. He would go back, get caught up in their world, end up staying, and Magneto would come and ruin their lives again. He couldn't risk doing that again, even if it had been fun for a while. Pyro laughed, thinking about the lake, the way they had scared the girls half to death. Then there had been the dance... god, that night couldn't have been more perfect. Heaving a soft sigh he let himself fall onto his bed, hoping he could fall asleep.

---


	3. 2 New Relations

The Dragon Tamer: Spellbound  
  
(PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. This is Part II in The Dragon Tamer series. I think most of you know as well as I do that I don't own X-Men or the characters (except the ones I make up, you should be able to tell who those are.) Enjoy!

Chapter 2: New Relations

-=-

It seemed he had just fallen asleep when Mystique's annoying voice awakened John. "John, wake up... John!" Growling, he sat up. "What!" She gave him her smug smile. "The new girl is here." He rubbed his eyelids with his fingertips, "What new girl?"

"The one from the news. Erik arrived with her a few moments ago. It's going to be up to you to make her comfortable here." With that, she left. John groaned, 'Great, the new arrival is a chic, she's probably a bitch too.' Mumbling to himself he stood up, grabbed his lighter off the end table, and swaggered tiredly out to meet the girl.

Upon entering the main room in the sad excuse for a base that Magneto had built, John was slightly taken back at the new apprentice's looks. She had straight black hair, and if it had not been put up in possibly the largest bun he had ever seen, it was obvious it would have gone down past her butt. Maybe even to her ankles. 'Bet she's never had a hair cut.' But that wasn't the thing that caught his attention first. It was her eyes. They reminded him of Evan's, as they were completely and totally black. Her ensemble was another story. It was all red. She had a pair of very baggy nylon looking red pants on, and a red halter-top. She was a sight to see all right.

"John, meet Cheyenne. Also known as.... um. I'm sorry dear, what was your real name again?" Cheyenne looked Magneto up and down, as if to belittle him. "Enchantra." Her voice was flat. John, out of nowhere, felt the need to speak up. "What can you do?" The girl turned her attention over to him, as if seeing him for the first time. She looked ready to answer, but didn't. Instead she just watched him for a while, until Mystique and Magneto left the room. Finally, she spoke again, "I'm not called Enchantra for nothing, you know." She slightly waved her hand and he felt himself becoming dizzy, and he had no choice but to watch her. Her eyes, there seemed to be a bit of red swirling in with the black. The vixen smirked at the mesmerized teenager a few feet from her. "Now, listen to me closely John."

-=-

Miles and miles away, back at Xavier's School, a certain redhead shoots straight up in her bed. This time the sweat was mixed in with tears. She had had the exact same dream, twice in the same night. Rogue stirred on the other side of the room, and opened her eyes to see her friend in tears. "Amanda? What's wrong?" Marie sat up and tiredly tossed her legs over the side of the bed. Said female looked up, thankful to have someone to talk to about it. "It's these dreams Marie, something's wrong with me."

"Shh... It's ok. Tell me about them."

Marie got closer and sat down beside her.

-=-

Cheyenne smirked as John scrambled around in effort to do whatever she asked of him. 'He really is kinda cute. With time and effort he may even be boyfriend material.' She frowned towards her own thoughts. 'No. First I must get him to fall for me without using my powers. Otherwise he would be a 'yes' man. Although that does have its advantages... I would much rather he have a little sense in him.' She continued frowning as she watched him go about her business; Getting a drink, readying her room, unpacking her bags, etc. 'Oh, very well. I suppose now would be a fine time to start.' With another wave of her hand she took the spell off of him.

John was in the middle of pouring pineapple juice into a goblet when he suddenly felt lost. He scowled, bemused, down at the pitcher, trying to remember exactly why in the hell he was pouring it, since he hated the stuff. He must have gotten a little too caught up in thought, because the next thing he remembered was the goblet overflowing and juice running across the counter top and splashing like a golden waterfall onto the floor. Promptly, he turned the pitcher upright and looked around for a towel. 'I'd better clean this up before Mystique catches sight of it.' The blue woman seemed to be somewhat of a neat freak, especially when it came to her territories in the base. The kitchen was one of them.

-=-

Amanda sat in History class doodling. She knew Ms. Munroe wouldn't be too happy if she discovered this little fact, but it was so hard to pay attention. Honestly, the subject was about as interesting to Amanda as watching paint dry. 'It takes about this long too...' With a silent sigh she looked across the room to Evan, who was found trying to sneak his arm around Sarah's shoulders. 'God, even Sarah doesn't want him. Not that I can blame her, he hits on every girl that walks his way.' Maybe it was time to tell him to take a hike? There were so many reasons she should. For one, NONE of her friends liked him in the least and second off, neither of them really liked the other. 'Guess I'll tell him after class is over.'

-=-

The bell to end first period rang and Bobby Drake found himself being pulled around a corner. Before he could utter a word he was face to face with his girlfriend. He was about to ask what she was up to until he saw the expression on her face.

"What's wrong?" Marie got closer to him, "We need to talk to the Professor." Iceman blinked, "Why?"

"Amanda's been having these dreams. I was just thinking about you and John's dreams, what if they mean something?"

"Well, what are they about?"

She took in a breath, "I guess the main point in them is that John kills her in these cruel, evil ways." Bobby blinked and raised an eyebrow, "I know John better than anyone, and I can safely say that he would never intentionally harm Amanda. Or any of us for that matter."

"I know that, but would it hurt to be cautious?" She pleaded. He sighed, "I tell you what. If she continues having dreams like that. Let me know, and we'll talk to the Professor."

Marie looked doubtful for a moment, but finally nodded and pulled herself together, "OK." Just as the word got out of her mouth a very pissed off Evan walked by muttering something about bitches and their ways. Amanda was following a few feet behind him, watching him as if she pitied him. Marie looked from one to the other, and as soon as Evan was out of earshot she turned to Amanda. "Get in a fight?" Her friend frowned, "Nope. Broke up with him." Marie laughed, "Well, he seems to have taken it well..." Amanda smirked back, "Yep. Just like a 'real' man."

---


	4. 3 Devon Meets Tornado

The Dragon Tamer: Spellbound  
  
(PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. This is Part II in The Dragon Tamer series. I think most of you know as well as I do that I don't own X-Men or the characters (except the ones I make up, you should be able to tell who those are.) Enjoy!

Chapter 3: Devon Meets Tornado

-=-

Devon Greere pulled on his black leather trench coat and confidently walked into the warehouse. He had gotten away from the school when no one was looking, and planned on having a little fun. His hair was pulled into eight large segments, and then spiked with so much gel they could almost impale someone. With a smug gleam in his eyes he looked around at the other people. This warehouse was well known to house runaways, but what most people didn't know was it was also where prison escapees and wanted citizens ran off to. They were hard to find among all the teenagers who ran away from home.

An hour later Devon was chilling on a beat up sofa with girls all around him admiring his unique eyes when a tall dark man walked up to him. He was a very tan Caucasian with long black hair pulled into a sleek ponytail and his eye color was black. Devon frowned, the man looked very much like a 'Godfather' version of that Evan Hope guy. He didn't like that kid. The man raised an eyebrow at him and actually had the gall to sit next to him. Devon glared at him and was about to say something to him when he spoke, while waving the ladies away. "You are the child known as Devon, correct?" Devon had to bite his tongue from bitching at him for calling him a child. Instead he nodded, "Yeah. Who wants to know?"

"I do. My name is Gregory Shoff, and I have a deal for you."

"What kind of deal?" Devon turned more towards Gregory, interested.

Mr. Shoff looked around, and leaned in closer. "Perhaps we should talk about this someplace less crowded. Come outside if you want to know more." With that he stood up and walked with heavy footsteps out the door. Devon waited a few moments before tripping after him. 'Who knows, it might be fun.'

When he arrived out the doors Gregory Shoff was standing right in front of him. "Glad you decided to help. Have a seat." He gestured to some boxes sitting to the side. Devon sat, and Greg continued.

"There is something you may not know about me Mr. Greere. I too am a mutant, and for the most part I go by Tornado. I would give you a sample of my abilities, but they are far too dangerous to toy with, so I cannot. Let me just say that I can create winds powerful enough to blow this whole city away if I so choose."

Devon raised an eyebrow at him, "Do you, by any chance, have a son?"

Tornado nodded, "Yes. A daughter as well. Although I have never seen either of them, they were raised by their 'normal' mother." Devon was ready to inquire more, but was stopped by Gregory's voice. "That's enough about me. I want to tell you my proposition." Devon leaned in to listen. 

-=-

Three hours later Devon was walking through the school doors, a devious plan in his mind. 'They'll never know what hit 'em.' Everyone in the school was in the other room, eating. They hadn't really noticed his absence; he was always off somewhere alone anyway. He had just entered the kitchen to get a drink when his cell phone rang. Looking around he answered. "Hello?"

It was Tornado. "Devon, there's been a change of plans. Go somewhere where you will be heard by someone during this conversation."

"What?"

"Just do it."

Devon was confused, but he looked around anyway. Jubilee was reading a book in the far hallway. She was alone, too. "Ok. Call me back in a second." He folded his phone and headed towards her, she barely looked up. He was pretending to search for a book on the bookshelf when Tornado called back. "Hello?" After he answered he turned his back to Jubilee and took a few steps forward. Trying his hardest to make it seem like he really didn't want her to hear him. "Yes Tornado, what is it?"

"Yes everything is going according to plan, why would it not?"

"No, no one can hear me." His eye twitched at this lie. Tornado continued giving him orders for the fake conversation.

"How many mutants will we take as slaves?"

"All of them?"

"What about everyone else, what will happen to them?"

"We're going to kill them, I see."

"Yes, yes, and yes. Ok, I'm heading out now."

Without a glance behind him he walked right out the door. Knowing Jubilee had heard everything he said.

Jubilation sat frozen, to anyone else she was reading the book. But she actually in shock from what she had just heard. 'What in the hell was that all about?' She took a deep breath and shot out of her seat. 'The professor will have to know about this.' Composing herself she headed off towards Xavier's office.


	5. 4 New Threat

The Dragon Tamer: Spellbound  
  
(PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. This is Part II in The Dragon Tamer series. I think most of you know as well as I do that I don't own X-Men or the characters (except the ones I make up, you should be able to tell who those are.) Enjoy!

Chapter 4: New Threat

-=-

Charles Xavier leaned back in his wheel chair and sighed. He had arranged to meet Erik fifteen minutes ago. 'Well, guess he's late as usual.' How he had done it was actually quite amusing. He had gone into Mystique's mind and used her to talk with Magneto. Basically he just told him he really needed to talk to him, and that he could bring one assistant along. Charles himself had brought Cyclops, which was the usual. And he was betting Erik would bring Mystique.

As he was pondering the new threat to their very lives, the aforementioned master of metal and his blue companion could be seen walking towards him. Magneto had a smirk on his face, "Ah, Charles. We do keep running into each other like this." Xavier smiled back, "Hello Erik." 

Cyclops and Mystique were deadly silent. For all the noise they made Professor X and Magneto might as well have been alone. Magneto sat down on a large rock and looked around. They were in the same place he had chased the teenagers down in ten months ago. "What is this 'new threat' you've been talking about Charles?"

"A student of mine came to me last night and informed that she had overheard a classmate by the name of Devon Greere—a former prisoner of Raptor's—talking to a mutant named Tornado. She heard him say they were planning to enslave all mutants, and kill off everyone else. I don't know how they plan on doing this, but if they have the resources, I think they might be able to."

Magneto and Mystique seemed interested now, so he continued. "I've done my homework on Tornado. His real name is Gregory Shoff and he came out of a two-year coma only five months ago. Before then he was a known criminal. As for Devon, he's always had a pinch for getting into trouble."

Mystique piped up, "How did Tornado get in a coma?" Xavier sighed, "I can't figure that out. All I know is it has something to do with another mutant named Stephen Solace, also known as Diablo. But enough about that. What are we going to do about Tornado and Devon?"

Magneto looked around one last time, and leaned forward so he was even closer to his oldest friend and worst enemy. "Meet me here in two days, at midnight. Bring everyone you want to. I will bring everyone as well. Then we will figure something out."

-=-

Arriving back at the mansion Scott and Charles called upon the teachers and the oldest students. Storm, Nightcrawler, Wolverine, Basilisk, Iceman, Rogue, Jubilee, Shadowcat, Paraschic, and Rainman all gathered to hear what the Professor and Cyclops had to say. Xavier looked around at them all one by one as he spoke. "As most of you may have heard by now, there is a new threat to the world as we know it. Young Devon Greere and a man named Gregory Shoff pose this threat. I have arranged to meet the Brotherhood at the same meadow that you children were hunted down at. We are to meet them in two days at the hour of midnight. We will have considerably less people however, since Ororo, Kurt, and Scott are all heading off to Alkali lake tomorrow morning." 

The old man turned his head and looked directly at Kitty, Jubilation, Allen, and Jake. "Logan will be going with me, this means that there will be no teachers left. You four, Bobby, Amanda, and Marie are the oldest. But only you are to stay here and make sure the children are all right. Marie, Bobby, and Amanda are going with me. Does everyone understand?" The others all nodded and he waved his hand, signaling the end of the meeting.

-=-

Not too far off at Magneto's place the two teenagers stand before the blue woman and Magneto. He had just informed them of the problem at hand. John toyed with his lighter and refused to look anywhere near Cheyenne. He wasn't sure why, but something about her just annoyed the hell out of him. "So, who's all coming with the Professor?" He couldn't look at Magneto either. There was no way he was letting that old man look into his eyes when he thought about the possibility of Amanda being there. Mystique smirked, "We don't know." He nodded, "Is that all then?" Magneto nodded and without another word he and Mystique walked off. John turned the other way and did the same, leaving Enchantra to glare into the back of his head.

-=-

One hour later John leaned back on his bed and clicked his lighter some more. 'What if Amanda is there? God, how would I ever be able to confront her?' He flicked the lighter again, but this time he didn't bother closing it. He just watched the flame. It reminded him of the dream he had so long ago, and the night Amanda was kidnapped right out of his arms. He had thought about this constantly after getting back to this hellhole. And it was the only thing standing in his way. The one thing keeping him from running right back to the mansion, and right back to her. 

'Not that she would take me back anyway.' John thought as he slipped onto his back to once again stare at the ceiling as he had done so many times before. 

His frown grew even deeper when he remembered that he had now joined the people who made her not take him back. 'But if I hadn't, things would have gotten worse.' Somewhere in the back of his mind, he still wished he had stayed, at least then he would be around her.

-=-

"Where the fuck does he think he gets off telling me what to do!" Glass could be heard breaking as the lamp hit the wall. Cheyenne breathed a little deeper. Magneto, after discovering her experiment on John, had just gotten done telling her she wasn't allowed to leave or go anywhere. He had actually used the word 'grounded.'

'And with that retarded little helmet I can't get in there and control him….' "Damnit!" She kicked the night stand the lamp had been standing on. She was sorry she did this, for the stand was made of metal and didn't budge. Plus her foot now hurt. Only then did she give up and flop down on her bed. Holding her foot.

'Damn old man. If I ever catch him without that fucking helmet on he's as good as mine…. Speaking of mine, I wonder what John's up to?' She turned her head towards the door, tempted to walk right out and go see him. 'He's probably sleeping, he seems to do that a lot. I wish someone would tell me what his problem is…' With a loud sigh she gave up and closed her eyes. 'Maybe I'll talk to him about it tomorrow.'


	6. 5 From Hell

The Dragon Tamer: Spellbound  
  
(PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. This is Part II in The Dragon Tamer series. I think most of you know as well as I do that I don't own X-Men or the characters (except the ones I make up, you should be able to tell who those are.) Enjoy!

Chapter 5: From Hell

-=-

A sixteen-year-old sauntered idly through the warehouse. No one of interest was here. 'Except that Devon kid, where'd he go?' The kid had been there the past few days, but he suddenly stopped coming. 'Oh well.' He hadn't really known him anyway. He did have to wonder what Devon's gloves were for, as he was never out of them. 'And he never touched anyone either. Maybe he's like me?' He thought as he walked out onto the sidewalk and turned left.

Stephen Solace was a mutant otherwise known as Diablo. The only 'powers' he possessed were rapid healing and heightened senses. In his younger years he didn't find much use for his abilities, but now they came in handy quite often. He was about 6' and his police record wasn't exactly clean. When Stephen was about twelve he was kidnapped by a military man named William Stryker. No one bothered to look for him, as his parents resented his very existence. And his own father was Chief of the police. From the time they recognized him as a mutant until the day he was kidnapped he was constantly being told that he came from hell. So his personality revolved around those words. The only person in his family he really had ever gotten along with, and even had fun with. Was his cousin Amanda, who was also a mutant.

Stryker had heard about him through a visit to his house for dinner. Where he witnessed it himself. Everything was going fine until Stephen tripped over the cat walking through the dining room and fell straight into the glass table. The glass instantly shattered and sliced him pretty good. You can imagine the good Colonel's surprise when his cuts began healing in seconds. This was the kind of mutant Stryker was always on the search for, ones he could experiment on. So, one-day fine day while the teen was walking home from school he was knocked over the head and driven all the way to a place called Alkali Lake. Where he was given an adamantium skeleton and claws of the same indestructible metal. 

There were, however, a few things Stephen could remember from his former life. And the rest of his memory just fell right back into place. This puzzled William Stryker, but he let it go. The metal he had placed in Stephen was extendible, so it extended and grew right along with him. The feeling of the metal 'growing' was a gentle tingling.

Less than a year later he had a run-in with a very odd looking guy who wanted to take over the Alkali base, Stryker sent him in to take care of the man. It was hard to say exactly what happened, all he remembered was getting really mad and then waking up from a twenty-four hour coma, he never heard what happened to the man, so he figured he was dead. 

Sometime after he turned fourteen he had a lucky break. Stryker and almost all of the guards had left to go find some oriental chic who he was told was like him in many ways. He wanted to meet her, but he saw his chance to escape, so he did. And he hitchhiked to the nearest city, which turned out to be New York. There he has been living for two years, mostly in the warehouse with all the other runaways. Sometimes he wondered if his parents missed him at all, but he doubted they did.

While he was absorbed in his thoughts he vaguely heard the sirens from behind him. It seemed the cops were always after him for something or other. A few of the things he hadn't done, but most of them he had. There wasn't anything too bad. Just a lot of stolen cars and goods, and a few break-ins here and there, nothing worse than that. But now he got blamed for nearly everything. 'Not like they can do anything.' There was little proof and no one knew his real name. They only knew him as Diablo. Still, he didn't want to get caught. So he ran through various alleys and through the park, towards his favorite place to think. There was a field out in the middle of this giant forest; there was never anyone around there. So he was free to do whatever he pleased.

Stephen let out a giant yawn as he stretched out on the grass. He was always glad when he could be alone. He had discovered this place about six months ago while running from the cops, he did that a lot, and decided it was well worth the walk.

He wasn't sure why, but he felt like this place made him a different person. It was always so serene, and there was little that could disturb one's thought process. 

No matter what kind of mood he was in, he could run here and everything would be all better. He could pretend he was living with Amanda and her family. Or that his own parents didn't hate him and he would be returning to a warm home and a nice meal any moment now. Sometimes he just wished things hadn't turned out the way they had. The funny thing is, even through all of this, all that he's had to deal with. He never once wished he wasn't a mutant. He did occasionally wonder what his cousin was doing, or what his parents were doing. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't hate his parents. They might have resented him, yes, but they still took good care of him while they had him. And he couldn't just forget that.

---


	7. 6 Flight of the Phoenix

The Dragon Tamer: Spellbound  
  
(PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. This is Part II in The Dragon Tamer series. I think most of you know as well as I do that I don't own X-Men or the characters (except the ones I make up, you should be able to tell who those are.) Enjoy!

Chapter 6: Flight of the Phoenix

-=-

"We should be there any moment now." Ororo looked back at Kurt in the seat behind Cyclops. "Are you ok back there?" Nightcrawler nodded, "Yes. I am perhaps a little airsick though…" She smiled, the blue acrobat did seem a little off hue. Still smiling she looked over at Scott. "You take control the rest of the way." He nodded and smiled as she unbuckled herself to walk back to her fiancé.

The professor had told them he was positive Jean was still out here somewhere. She was changed, but it was her still. So they were out to find her and bring her back to the meeting point. Scott looked forward, a grim frown replaced the smile. 'What if we don't find her?' He had been having thoughts like this for a while now. There was always the possibility that they wouldn't find her. They had come back several months ago to look for her with the professor, but they had no luck. He was praying she would stay where the professor had told them she was. Because way out here the radio signal wouldn't come through to tell them where she had moved to. His thoughts were still on this as he gently brought the Blackbird to a landing.

-=-

Amanda sat in the Lightning Bolt, the new jet. She looked around nervously, feeling as if she were about to throw up. There was no denying that John was going to be there. It would be her, Bobby, Marie, and John again. But what would she say to him? She could picture in her head how it would be, "Hi, how ya doing? Ya, me too. Am I still mad at what you did? That depends, are you still an ass?" That wasn't much of a conversation starter. 

"Is everyone ready back there?" The professor sat in the pilot's seat, and looked back at the others. Everyone nodded, but no one really spoke. Obviously Bobby and Marie were spooked about seeing John again too. Amanda had no clue why Wolverine looked so worried. Little did she know his mind was more on what was going on at Alkali Lake than what was going on here in the jet. The professor had decided that with the growing number of promising X-Men it was time to build another jet. Especially since they need to be in two places at once. So they built an exact replica of the Blackbird and decided to call it the Lightning Bolt. The interior, instead of being blue, was more of a whitish-yellow. Resembling electricity, hence the name. 

Amanda was also a little worried about ganging up with Magneto and Mystique. They weren't exactly people who would make her day with their kindness and fun personalities. She shuddered to think that the professor and Magneto were old friends. Now they were mortal enemies, yet somehow remained friends. A million thoughts raced through her head as the jet picked up off the ground and darted outside.

-=-

John glared up at Mystique at the front of the chopper. Remembering for the thousandth time how she tricked him and Amanda apart. He turned his head and noticed that Cheyenne was watching him from his left side. How she had moved close enough to breathe on him was beyond him. He would have to make it a point not to pay attention to her through the whole ride to the meeting point. Maybe then she would catch the hint that he wasn't interested in her in the least. 'But then again, she isn't the brightest bulb in the box.' He snorted softly, causing Mystique to turn around and raise an eyebrow at him. "Something amusing John?" He glared again, "No." She gave him a 'fuck you too' smile and faced the sky again.

-=-

Scott could hardly believe it. There she was, in his arms. They had found Jean without too much difficulty, as she had been flying directly at them. No one, not even she, was sure what happened to her. But the professor would be able to figure that out when they got back. Right now everyone was satisfied with her just remembering them and holding on tightly to her husband. Kurt and Ororo decided to join the fun and they hugged too. Storm smiled, whatever was coming to them would be much easier to handle now that they were all together again.

---


	8. 7 Old Scars Renewed

The Dragon Tamer: Spellbound  
  
(PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. This is Part II in The Dragon Tamer series. I think most of you know as well as I do that I don't own X-Men or the characters (except the ones I make up, you should be able to tell who those are.) Enjoy!

Chapter 7: Old Scars Renewed

-=-

Amanda, Marie, and Bobby stepped off the jet. They all looked around at the all too familiar field and a chill blew through the air. Amanda looked nervously over at Professor X, "When are they supposed to get here?" The words had no sooner slipped out of her mouth than she heard the blades of a helicopter approaching. The professor smiled, "I believe that should answer your question, my dear." She nodded and gulped, 'This is going to be one vacation I'm gonna wish I never took.'

-=-

'God, she came with them.' Even though John was holding the handle in the back of the chopper, he still felt as if his knees were going to give in and he would fall. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew Amanda would probably be here, but he wasn't prepared for it. He gulped as the aircraft drew nearer to the ground.

Cheyenne took notice of his apprehension and followed his gaze. She couldn't tell who he was looking at, but she felt herself growing slightly jealous. Who, in his eyes, deserved more attention than she did?

-=-

As the helicopter landed all that could be heard was the distinct sound of the blades slowing to a halt. No one spoke; there was no need to. Amanda held her breath as the four shadowed figures crept out of the open door... 'Four?' She counted again and sure enough there were indeed four of them. 'Wonder who the new one is?' She was about to voice this to Bobby, but discovered he was busy dousing the campfire. He noticed her questioning look and shrugged, "Just in case."

Apparently another saw his act of insecurity because a familiar voice sounded from directly behind Amanda. So close, in fact, she felt the breath on her neck. "What's the matter Bobby, don't trust me?"

John couldn't stop himself from laughing as Amanda jumped in surprise. He had crept up behind her while she was watching Bobby. It was dark enough so that all of them were very hard to see. As Amanda began backing away he was about to tell her to relax when someone cleared their throat behind him. He too jumped, and turned around. It was Cheyenne. She smirked, 'Silly boy.'

He frowned, he had almost forgotten she had come along. "Guys, this is Cheyenne."

-=-

Ten minutes later the fire was going again and the five teens were seated comfortably around it. The four adults had gone into the jet to talk. In the firelight Amanda was able to get a better look at her ex. 'He looks so old.' John had obviously lost some sleep, and he was undoubtedly jaded from doing Magneto's dirty work. She could tell he had more muscle mass, and in all he was more rough around the edges than he used to be. But he was still her John, that much reflected in his eyes. After a few moments of staring at him she realized he was looking right back at her, so she looked down at the fire.

John looked away as he felt the guilt rush over him. Had he done this to her? She looked tired, dead tired. There was no sparkle about her anymore. It seemed like she was just barely breathing, let alone living. "How have you all been doing?" The question was more directed at Amanda than the other two, and they seemed to know it.

Amanda sighed, "Ok I guess..." Marie rolled her eyes and decided to take matters into her own hands, "You know, Amanda, Evan took it pretty hard when you broke up with him." John's eyes narrowed at this, "When you broke up with him?" Marie smugly nodded, "Amanda dated Evan for over a month. Didn't you?" Her friend raised an eyebrow at her, but Marie held firm. Finally Amanda nodded, still not quite understand Marie's approach. 'Since when does she care what Evan feels?' But when she looked up and saw the sheer jealousy in John's eyes, she knew what Marie was trying to do. 

Pyro's blood boiled inside his veins. How dare that asshole take his girl! Sure, they weren't together anymore. But still! If he ever saw Evan again he would be sure to kick his preppy ass as far as it would go. Cheyenne took notice of the emotions that were flickering across her crush's face. 'So, it's the little red-headed bitch that he was getting so nervous about?' Silently she glanced over at Amanda, 'Well, we will just have to make sure she hates him as much as possible. Now won't we?' Swiftly she slid her hand up to the back of John's neck, and before he could say anything cast her spell. 

Amanda watched, her interest peaked. John's head was now rolling on his neck as if he's just passed out. The new girl, Cheyenne, was saying something to him. But she couldn't make it out. Turning her head she looked over at Bobby and Marie, who in turn looked at her. All were wondering the same thing. 'What's going on here?'

After about two minutes of looking like a drunk John finally lifted his head up, as Cheyenne rested her own head upon his shoulder. All three of the x-teens had raised eyebrows about this move. Surely John wouldn't just sit there and let her do that? Out of nowhere John rested his head against the young woman's. "I don't know if I told you all this or not, but Cheyenne and I are dating. In love even. She beats every other girl I've ever been with." Cheyenne gave him a peck on the lips and smirked at Amanda.

At that moment Amanda fought back the immense urge to grab the nearest stick, preferably one with fire on it, and bash the bitch over the head. Both Bobby and Marie looked like they were thinking the same thing. Amanda actually found herself twitching and was reaching for a fiery branch when the 'adults' came out of the jet. That saved Bobby enough time to grab her lightly around the wrist, preventing her from harming the new devil-woman.

"All right, everyone listen up." Magneto's voice boomed and seemed to echo off the trees. "All of you have been told about Gregory Shoff. According to Xavier, a sixteen-year-old mutant by the name of Devon Greere has been plotting the fall of mankind and the slavery of remaining mutants with him. We are camping here for the night, but tomorrow Charles has agreed we should go to the school and he will use Cerebro to find Gregory, also known as Tornado. In the meantime, don't get yourselves killed." 

A shadow stood watching from behind a very far off tree. Diablo's eyes roamed the area and it's new inhabitants. There he had been, sleeping only a few feet away when he heard the jet coming. Now he couldn't help but gulp as he caught sight of his cousin, Amanda. 'This has got to be someone up there messing with my mind.' How long had it been since they had seen each other? At least four years, because had been under Stryker's 'treatment' from the time he was twelve until he was fourteen, when he finally broke free. Suddenly the man in the wheelchair turned his head and looked right at him. He backed up and hid behind the tree. 'Boy, that was weird.'

-=-

Far off back at Alkali Lake Jean and Scott embrace. "God, I've missed you like hell." Jean smiled and snuggled closer, "I've missed you too." Kurt and Ororo watched from the back of the jet. Cyclops and Phoenix were the ones in the front. Nightcrawler was all smiles, "They really love each other huh?" Storm nodded, smiling at his adorable accent. "Yes. Before you came along, there were times when I found myself jealous of them, but mostly, I am happy for them." 

"Is everyone ready back there?" Jean's commanding voice echoed off the metallic walls. Storm nodded, "Yes." Cyclops readied the engine, "Ok then. It's time to meet the others."

---


	9. 8 Meet Phoenix

The Dragon Tamer: Spellbound  
  
(PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. This is Part II in The Dragon Tamer series. I think most of you know as well as I do that I don't own X-Men or the characters (except the ones I make up, you should be able to tell who those are.) Enjoy!

Chapter 8: Meet Phoenix

-=-

'More?' Stephen could hardly believe his ears as he heard the low drone of yet another aircraft approaching. He remained crouched as the man in the wheelchair began talking to the others. "Listen up. That would be Cyclops, Storm, Nightcrawler…and Jean." Everyone grew silent. "I don't want anyone questioning her about what she's been through, how she's been living, or about her changes. Is that understood?" There were random mumbles of "Ok." And a few heads nodded, as the Blackbird landed.

It's passengers exited onto the soft ground, and all were silent for at least two minutes. Finally Logan broke the silence. "Hello Jean." She smiled at him tiredly, "Hi Logan." She went around asking how people were doing, and giving a few hugs—John even got one—Before they all decided it was time to get down to business. "Jean, has Scott mentioned anything to you about why we are here?" Professor Xavier inquired. "He's told me a little, but no detail." That said the professor and Magneto began spilling details and descriptions for the next half- hour. 

When they finished Jean had her hand on her forehead, massaging her temples. "So let me get this straight. You're telling me that this Tornado guy has joined up with a young mutant—who goes to the school—and together they've decided to kill off humanity and enslave all the mutants?" Xavier nodded, "That's the general idea. We aren't sure exactly how they plan on doing this. It may even just be silly little ideas. But I don't think Tornado would present himself in a situation like this without knowing exactly what he's doing. I've been reading up on him." She sighed, "This is going to be a long night.

-=-

Amanda turned on her air mattress. There was something bothering her to the point of no sleep. 'It's gotta be John.' She thought. 'How could he be in love with Cheyenne one minute, when only the moment before he barely acted as if she existed? There's just something wrong with it.' In an effort to get herself off the subject she turned her attention to Dr. Jean Grey. She seemed like a nice enough lady. 'I've certainly heard a lot about her from, well, everyone.' 

Almost everyone she ran into made some kind of comment about the missing woman. 'And now she's back.' She smiled; remembering how happy Professor Summers looked while he was holding her hand. 'I wish I could find a love like that. God, he waited damn near a year for her, not even knowing that she really was still out there.' This caused her to frown. 'Damnit, now I'm thinking about John again!' She groaned and rolled to her other side.

-=-

John stared in utter confusion at the ceiling of his tent. The last thing he remembered was talking to Bobby, Amanda, and Marie by the fire. Now he was suddenly in bed. 'Something definitely isn't right here.' But he wasn't sure exactly what it was.

-=-

Charles Xavier sensed the boy's presence, and knew exactly where he was. With a knowing smile he wheeled over to where Stephen had fallen asleep and spoke softly. "Wake up Stephen." The teenager stood up frantically and shot out his claws, ready to fight. "You won't be needing those Mr. Solace." Diablo raised an eyebrow at him, "How do you know my name?" The professor smiled again, 'I know everything about you.' Stephen looked around, "Who said that?" 

'I did.' Stephen nearly fell over. "Where did you learn to do that?" Xavier chuckled, "I didn't have to learn it Stephen, it is my gift. I'm Professor Charles Xavier." He held his hand out to the young man before him. Stephen cautiously shook it, "I guess you know who I am. But why are you here talking to me?" The professor merely smiled at this, "Why are you talking back to me?" Diablo blinked, "Uh, well, I guess because I feel like it…"

"Then there's your answer."

"Oh."

"Stephen, am I making you uncomfortable?"

Diablo shrugged. "No, I'm just not really used to people talking to me like I'm normal." Professor X nodded, "Yes. That is the worst habit of mankind, to ignore or belittle those whom they do not understand or do not like. Have you ever heard of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, Stephen?"

"No. But it's got your name in it, so I'm betting you own it."

He nodded, "Yes, I do. And I would be most appreciative if you would come back with the others and I. There you would meet other children your age who also have gifts that the other world doesn't want to see."

"Is that where my cousin goes?" He said this more to himself, and didn't really expect the wise man in front of him to know whom he was talking about. To his surprise, he did. "Yes. That is where Amanda goes." Stephen looked up sharply, "How did you know who she was?" Xavier smiled again, "Like I said, I know all about you. There is also a man I want you to meet. His name is Logan, but he goes by Wolverine. I think you'll find his abilities very interesting considering they are the same as your own. So, do you think you'll come back with me?"

Diablo nodded, "I guess it wouldn't hurt to give it a shot. But I've gotta warn you, something happens when I get really mad. I don't know exactly what it is, but I have killed someone before…" He was interrupted.

"You are speaking of Gregory Shoff, and he isn't dead Stephen. You somehow knocked him into a two-year coma, from which he has awakened. But I will tell you all about that later."

---


	10. 9 Evan's Promise

The Dragon Tamer: Spellbound  
  
(PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. This is Part II in The Dragon Tamer series. I think most of you know as well as I do that I don't own X-Men or the characters (except the ones I make up, you should be able to tell who those are.) Enjoy!

Chapter 9: Evan's Promise

-=-

Evan Hope paced the halls of the Xavier mansion. It was late, but he had too much on his mind to sleep. 'How dare she do that to me!' No one had ever broken up with him before. It was always he who had done the heartbreaking. Not that his heart was broken, because he hadn't really cared for Amanda. He wasn't even sure why he asked her out in the first place, the attention was nice though. It's not that she wasn't pretty or fun, she was, but she wasn't his type. 

He liked the ones who couldn't think on their own. Even he had to admit that some of the girls he dated never seemed they like were all there. That wasn't the point though. Nobody had ever done this to him and he wasn't sure how to take it. Now he believed he at least had a taste of what his ex-girlfriends went through. He, Evan Hope, had been dumped by a girl who would rather have a flame-throwing creep who was now on the 'dark' side. 

'I've got to find out where they went. I have to talk to her, convince her to get back with me, so that I can dump her.' He frowned, 'That may not work. But I've gotta give it a shot. And if that John guy is there, well, I'll just let him have it.' He fixed a confident smirk on his face and stalked off towards the good Professor's office. Jubilation, Allen, Kitty, and Jake were all in the main room watching television with the smaller children. So there was no one to stop him. "I don't know what I have to do. But some way or another Amanda will pay for doing this."

Ten minutes later he was still rummaging through the desk when he came across the papers left for the 'baby-sitters'. "Yes!" He smirked again as he briefly read through them. 'Somewhere in here there has got to be…' There it was. They went to Copal's Forest. 'No directions…. Damn.' He sighed and leaned back in the chair he had pulled up. Wait! Didn't Dr. Grey keep a map of the city in her room? Evan shot out of the seat and stalked as silently as he could back down the hall and tiptoed up the staircase. 'Just a few more steps…There!' He was safe. Now all he had to do was get the good Dr.'s bedroom and find the map. Was it still considered Dr. Jean Grey's bedroom, even though she was dead? Should he instead call it Professor Summers' bedroom?

Evan quickly shrugged the thought off as he slipped silently into the dark room. 'If I were living in here, where would I keep a map?' He could think of nothing. 'Fine then, I'll just have to be careful and not let anything get out of place while I search.' He put his cocky smile back on his face and began promptly rummaging through the nightstands, the desk, and the closet. He found it in that last place. 'Perfect!' He nearly stopped breathing when he heard footsteps from outside the door. Fast as he could he turned the light off. Within moments the footsteps continued down that hallway and he felt confident there was no one there. So he reached over and clicked on the little lamp on the nightstand. It provided just enough light to read the map clearly.

'Copal's Forest…. Where is it?' His forehead creased as he squinted at the map. 'There it is!' The map was old, real old, one would have thought the government would have sold the land before now. However, he noticed there was a little line around the forest, looking at the legend he noticed that meant the field was privately owned. 'I'm getting off the purpose now.' He took a deep breath and returned the map. "Here we go." He stretched and headed down the staircase, hoping he didn't look as if he were up to something.

-=-

Cheyenne frowned as she stared at the ceiling. Why did she have to take over John for him to like her? Why couldn't he just look at her the way he looked at that Amanda bitch? 'What's so special about her anyway? He looked at her as if she were the only thing that mattered on this planet… Stupid male.' Her scowl deepened as she remembered the other two. 'Those friends of his, they don't like me either. I can tell.' Of course, she could always force them to like her, but that wouldn't be the same. 

All at once she stopped everything. She could have sworn she heard that guy in the wheelchair talking to himself out there. 'What a weirdo.' She hasn't liked him from the moment she saw him. He reminded her of her grandfather—he was always a do-gooder, who made her think of her father, and she hated her father. She never really knew him, he left when she and her brother were babies. Her mother was a bit of a drunk, and addicted to drugs on top of that. And only seven years later her aunt and uncle came and took away her brother, but Cheyenne refused to leave her mom. She never heard from her father or brother again. 

So Cheyenne grew up with her mother Sheridan Hope. She frowned again, her mother and father were never married, and instead of giving Evan and she his last name, she gave them hers. She sighed again, 'Oh well. That's in the past, I have a new life now. And with some luck and a few pulled tricks, it will be with St. John Allerdyce.' Her face twisted into a superior smirk at this. 'He will learn to like me more than he likes Amanda. And when he does, I'll rub it all in her face.'

-=-

"Bobby, I know you're awake. So can we talk about something?" Iceman looked up as his girlfriend walked into the tent Wolverine was sound asleep across the way. Softly he answered her, "Sure. Just be quiet about it. Don't want to wake Logan up now do we?" She smiled and he returned it. Sitting up and patting the side of his mattress. "What do you want to talk about?" She sat down, "John and that Cheyenne girl." He frowned, "What about them?" Marie looked at him pleadingly and he wiped the frown off his face. "Well. It didn't sound like John talking… Ya know? I mean, it was his voice, but those weren't words he would say. You've known him longer than I have, do you really think he would say something like that?" Bobby sighed, "Well. No, but he did didn't he? I guess he has changed. I never thought he would, at least not that much, but I was wrong. How else would those words have stumbled out of his mouth?"

Rogue bit her bottom lip, "Cheyenne is also known as Enchantra. I was just thinking, well, what if she had something to do with it?" Her boyfriend raised an eyebrow, "Of course she had something to do with it Marie, It was about her." She scowled at him, "You know what I mean. We never did find out what her powers are." Bobby sucked in a breath, beginning to catch her drift. It was a long shot, but what if someone really was controlling his friend. What could they do to stop it? "I think we should talk to Jean." Bobby nodded. With her evolved powers, maybe she could find something out. "That's a good idea. But for now, Logan is starting to move. You'd better get back to your tent." She nodded, gave him a peck on the cheek and walked out.

---


	11. 10 Demon in the Dust

The Dragon Tamer: Spellbound  
  
(PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. This is Part II in The Dragon Tamer series. I think most of you know as well as I do that I don't own X-Men or the characters (except the ones I make up, you should be able to tell who those are.) Enjoy!  
  
Chapter 10: Demon in the Dust  
  
-=-  
  
Amanda's eyes slowly opened to see Marie's face. She groaned, "My god. I feel like I slept on the ground." Marie made a noise like she was laughing and groaning at the same time, "We did. Our mattresses aired out some time during the night."  
  
"That explains it then." Amanda sat up and popped her back, which still felt like it was out of place. Her face fell as she remembered she still had to fold her mattress up, and they had to take down the tent. "From now on, anytime I suggest camping again, slap me across the face."  
  
"Will do." Marie had already folded her mattress and was beginning to help Amanda fold hers. "The professor says there's someone he wants you to see. Don't ask me who, because I haven't the slightest idea either." Within ten minutes they were done inside and ready to fold the tent up. "Let's wait a few minutes, we can go see what the Professor wants." Marie nodded and she and Amanda walked out of the tent. Amanda let out another groan when she saw John sitting out there, "Darn, I was hoping you would have fallen off a cliff by this morning." Mystique snorted and looked over at Magneto, happy to see Amanda still hated John. Pyro frowned and was about to insult back, but bit his tongue. Whatever he would have said wouldn't have helped anything, so he wasn't going to say it.  
  
The redhead raised an eyebrow, expecting him to say something. When he didn't, she looked over at Marie and shrugged. 'Wonder what his deal is?' Then she saw someone who wasn't with them last night. He looked younger than she was, but she could swear she somehow knew him. 'Who the hell.?' At that moment the Professor spoke up, "Amanda. Meet Stephen Solace. I believe you already know him." Her eyes bulged, "Stephen!" Diablo stood up and she had to look up at his face, 'Woah, he's gotten taller.' "Where have you been all these years? My parents looked for you everywhere.Eh, Stephen?" He had seemed to be staring right behind her; she looked behind her but didn't see anything. Until she noticed Wolverine was looking in that direction also. Jean was about to say something to him but he held his hand up to silence her. Someone was back there.  
  
-=-  
  
'Here goes nothing.' Evan Hope stepped out from behind the tree. Diablo shot his claws out at the sight of him, but the Professor spoke. "Evan Hope. What are you doing here?" Amanda tensed, he was looking right at her. "I just thought maybe you all would need some help, that's all." Basilisk averted her eyes and was disappointed to discover that she was now staring directly at John, who's hand was dangerously close to his lighter.  
  
Xavier pondered the thought for a moment, "Well. You are one of the oldest students, so I suppose that we could indeed use your help. However, never leave the mansion again like this." The teenager nodded and sat down across from Cheyenne, who was watching him bug-eyed. 'Shit! This is the last place I would expect to find my brother!'  
  
-=-  
  
Half an hour later the adults were back inside the Blackbird, Scott had said there was something faulty with the communication device. And being the nosy people they were, Magneto and Mystique tagged along inside. As soon as they were safely out of eyesight Evan sharply turned on Amanda. "Thought you could just break up with me and leave huh?" She raised an eyebrow at him, "It's not like I really had a choice whether I wanted to leave or not. And what does this trip have to do with you?"  
  
"I see how it is. Act like you don't know. You're doing this just to get away from me, you're scared of aren't you 'Basilisk'?" Amanda put her hand to her forehead, embarrassed by his display of idiocy. 'God, he really is dumb.' She looked over at Marie for help, but was startled by John shooting from his seat and upper-cutting Evan, "Do it and die!" Amanda stood up, "What are you talking about?"  
  
John indicated to one of the larger fire-logs that sat next to Evan, "He was about to hit you with that thing." Amanda was ready to thank John when Cheyenne slapped him across the face, leaving a scratch from her long nails. "Don't you dare touch my brother like that!" Everyone stood shocked. Marie choked, "Her brother?" Cheyenne helped Evan to his feet, and he stared at her for a moment. "Cheyenne?" She smiled and squeezed his hand then glared at John. "You know what, I don't want you anymore. You can go back to the little slut." She turned her attention to Amanda, "And I still don't like you." Amanda put her fingers to her temples, this was just too much to take in. She slyly looked up at John, who was giving Cheyenne the death glare, "What do you mean you don't want me anymore? When did you ever want me?" Cheyenne stuck her tongue out childishly, "I'm not saying anything."  
  
About this time the communicator was fixed and the adults had once again joined them. There were a few questions as to what caused the bruise on Evan's chin, and what scratched Pyro. But other than that, no one was really bothered by it. The professor looked around at everyone, "We are leaving in five hours. That should give you all enough time to get some issues out of the way. I'm sure you all know we will work best when there are no grudges or unfilled answers." He looked from Amanda to Stephen, Amanda to John, John to Evan, and Cheyenne to John. Leaving Marie and Bobby completely out of the thought. John frowned, they were always the goody- goodies.  
  
--- 


	12. 11 Pyro's Plan

The Dragon Tamer: Spellbound  
  
(PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. This is Part II in The Dragon Tamer series. I think most of you know as well as I do that I don't own X-Men or the characters (except the ones I make up, you should be able to tell who those are.) Enjoy!

Chapter 11: Pyro's Plan

-=-

John leaned against his lawn chair. Everyone pretty much split up and wandering around doing nothing in particular. Something was bugging him, he knew that after all this was over; He would have to go back with Magneto, Cheyenne, and Mystique. 'Like a 'happy' little family.' The thought made him sick. He longed for the vast mansion and all it's students. Even with Evan and Sarah there it would be fun. "More fun than what I've been having." He thought about Rogue's first day there, and how he and Bobby had had a lot of fun trying to win her over. He missed Bobby, he missed Marie, and lord knows he missed Amanda. 'I won't do it. I refuse to go back with Magneto. I have to find a way out of it.' Then the thought hit him, Evan. Magneto wasn't holding him there because he fancied him over the others, it was because he had been willing to go with him. And the only reason he kept him there was because he didn't want to be left without a member. So, if John could persuade Evan to leave with Magneto and not him. He was free to go back to the mansion. Plus, Evan would be with his sister.

Pyro quickly stood up from his chair and stretched for a moment, his whole body seemed to be asleep. 'I've got to talk to Bobby first.' He looked around. 'Speaking of Iceman, where the hell is he?' Bobby couldn't have gone too far, the Professor asked everyone to remain nearby until they were done prepping. He walked around for what must have been fifteen minutes before he finally spotted Bobby standing all by his lonesome behind the jet. Quickly he ran over to him, "Bobby!" His friend looked up at him and blinked at the display of excitement in John's voice. "Yeah?" John took a deep breath, "I want to go back to the mansion. I really do!" He added from the look on Bobby's face, "The problem is Magneto won't let me leave because that would mean losing a 'fighter' for his side, so what if we convince Evan to go back with the old man? It would be a trade-off." 

Iceman raised his eyebrow skeptically but nodded, "Yes, I suppose that would work." The more he thought about it the better it sounded. He would have his friend back, and maybe Amanda would stop sauntering around the way she has been. Of course they had that little bump of cheating to get over, but he was sure they would work it over in time. About this point Marie had come back from using the restroom and looked from one boy to the other. 'What are they so thrilled about?' Before the question went from her mind to her mouth both Bobby and John were spilling words out of their mouths. "Woah, Woah! One at a time!" They both shut up and while John was catching his breath Bobby spat out the idea. Marie was taken to it instantly. "I think it's a wonderful idea! Evan and Cheyenne would be together again, and you and Amanda would be together again. Then maybe she'd be a little happier. She barely ever has time to do anything with us anymore, she's always moping around."

This surprised John. He just couldn't imagine his energetic ex-girlfriend moping around like the world had ended. 'Maybe she doesn't hate me as much as she pretends to…' He gulped as another thought lingered in his mind, "What about the Professor? I doubt he would really be willing to perform a trade-off, he just isn't that type of person." Marie nodded but kept the smile on her face, "I'm sure if we talk to Magneto first, maybe he could help us persuade the professor. I mean, I'm sure Magneto would rather have someone who's ready and willing to fight against us rather than someone who would rather be fighting with us." John had to run the words over and over in his mind, they ran out of her mouth very fast like.

-=-

Magneto smirked and leaned against the side of the jet. He had just been informed of the plan, and was all for it. "So, you want my help in getting Charles to agree with it?" All three teenagers before him nodded their heads. Marie and Bobby were a little less enthusiastic about it than their friend. After all, they disliked once again working with the brotherhood, and now they were getting a little more personal. "Very well. Assuming Evan comes as willingly as you did John." With that said they all headed back into the jet and Erik started with all the other adults and the three teenagers standing around.

"Charles. These three have a little plan. It seems that Pyro is no longer happy with me, and wishes to return with you to the school. Lord knows why, but anyway. They know that I don't want to lose a 'brother'. So they want to have a little trade. Gust for Pyro. They figure Gust would be happy with me, since his sister is with me and they were always close as children. That's putting the whole thing frankly, and I believe you should be fine with it." To everyone's surprise Xavier actually nodded, "If that is their wish. But they should know that Evan might not want to go, I am assuming you haven't talked to him about it since he isn't in here right now. I'm leaving it up to you three to talk with him about it. When he has made up his mind I want you to come and inform me." Still shocked the three kids walked out. John blinked, "Did he honestly just say that it was ok?" Marie nodded, "Yes, yes he did."

---


	13. 12 Figure It Out

The Dragon Tamer: Spellbound  
  
(PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. This is Part II in The Dragon Tamer series. I think most of you know as well as I do that I don't own X-Men or the characters (except the ones I make up, you should be able to tell who those are.) Enjoy!

Chapter 12: Figure It Out

-=-

John sat on one of the logs. Trying to keep from looking too disappointed. They had talked to Evan about his plan, and Evan had turned it down. Saying that now he had something to stay there for; to keep John and Amanda apart. 'Damn idiot.' John took a deep breath as Magneto and Xavier stood or wheeled in front of them all. Magneto was the one who spoke first. "We've got an idea. We will all fly to the school and Charles will use Cerebro to find either Tornado or Devon. We have a strong feeling that they are together wherever they are." Pyro sighed, 'Great. More memories to return to me.' There were a couple of groans and grunts as the tired teens and adults stood up and sauntered to their take-off vehicles.

-=-

They had landed at the mansion five minutes ago, and only the Professor and Jean went inside. Amanda looked around warily. She was nervous about Magneto, Mystique, and Enchantra being in the school. John oddly didn't bother her, since he used to go to school there. But the other three… well, she just didn't trust them. She knew that if it hadn't been for the emergency the Professor wouldn't allow them in either. But then another part of her knew that there were more than enough people in the mansion to easily overpower the trio, and even if John joined them they wouldn't win. 

She frowned. John was in the seat across from her and he just wouldn't stop staring. The worst part was hearing Magneto and Mystique laugh every five seconds at her failing attempts not to look at him. With an inward sigh she took the opportunity to glance over at Bobby and Marie, who were cuddling much to her dismay. 'Great, I run into my ex-boyfriend and my two best friends are cuddling right in front of us. Just my luck.' But rather than voice this she turned her attention to her cousin, who was giving John looks that clearly said, 'I don't like you. I don't want to know you. Stay away.' When he caught her staring he flashed her a fanged smile and looked away, realizing what he'd done. She blinked, since when did he have fangs? Slowly she raised an eyebrow at him and he sighed, coming over to sit next to her.

"Where did those come from?" She whispered, as not to let the still staring John know what she said. "It's no big deal. About a year ago I had a friend of mine use lasers and cut them into this shape…" He stopped at the deadly glare on her face. "You allowed some idiot to use lasers in your MOUTH!" Stephen nodded a bit sheepishly and looked around as everyone who wasn't piloting was now staring at them. "..Fangs.." He said and everyone but Kurt went back to doing whatever it was they were doing. The blue man bamfed and ended up on the other side of Diablo. "You actually vanted fangs?" Stephen nodded. This confused Nightcrawler to no end, "Vhy vould anyvone vant them? Zey just grew on me… I had no choice." Diablo blinked, "I always thought it would be neat. Ya know, scare people off with them." Once again the blue man sitting next to him looked baffled, "Vhy vould you vant to scare ozhers off? I've spent my life trying to convince zhem zat I vouldn't harm them…"

At this point Storm stood up and walked back to her Nightcrawler. "How are we doing back here?" Diablo looked up at her with a 'help me' expression her face. She nodded with a smile and put her hand on Kurt's shoulder. "Why don't you come to the front with me and we'll talk about… things." She added, trying to find something to say. "Like our wedding, ok?" He nodded, giving Stephen one more confused look and followed her to the seats just behind the pilots, where Scott was watching the mansion doors, awaiting his mentor and wife to come back to the Lightning Bolt, as that's what they were in.

-=-

Another twenty minutes had passed and still no sign of them. Almost everyone was getting a little antsy. 'What could be taking them so long?' Cyclops looked around. There was no way he was going in, he wanted to make sure Magneto and his gang didn't pull any fast ones. Kurt and Ororo were obviously very involved in their conversation. That left the kids. With another glance he noted that Marie and Bobby were both asleep… but Amanda and Stephen looked free. "Basilisk, Diablo. I'm gonna have to ask you two to go in and see what's holding them up." Amanda nodded, glad to be getting away from John's eyes. She thought too soon as Magneto stood up, "Pyro, you go too." Scott looked ready to argue against this, but after a few moments hesitation he nodded. John stood up and the trio walked down the steps.

Once they got inside the mansion Amanda and John lead the way to Cerebro. Where they found Jean waiting just outside the still closed doors of the machine. "Jean, what's taking so long?" The older woman sighed at Amanda's question. "We think they may have some kind of teleporter with them. But we can't be sure. All we know is both Devon and Tornado have a broken line. So we have to wait until they stop, and pray they stay in the area. The professor is actually going to stay here, so he can inform us if they move. But until that point we have to wait until he can track one or the other." Diablo looked confused, but didn't ask any questions. What was all this talk about broken lines? What exactly was this machine, Cerebro?

---


	14. 13 Coming Together

The Dragon Tamer: Spellbound  
  
(PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. This is Part II in The Dragon Tamer series. I think most of you know as well as I do that I don't own X-Men or the characters (except the ones I make up, you should be able to tell who those are.) Enjoy!

Chapter 13: Coming Together

A/N: Sorry if in the last chapter some of you thought I butchered Kurt's accent. I didn't want to just act like he talked like the others, because that would just be weird and annoying… to me that is.

-=-

John sighed and stood up. They had waited another five minutes, "I'm going to go tell the others what the problem is." Stephen immediately followed suit, "Oh no, there's no way I'm letting you go anywhere without supervision." Amanda and Jean all stared at him. It was the first time he had talked to anyone except the professor or Amanda. John scoffed but nodded and the two walked out. Amanda turned around, suddenly feeling awkward. "So, I hear you're a telepathic...?" Phoenix nodded, smiling. "Yeah. I didn't used to be too powerful in that area, but after my power surge… well. Let's just say that if I keep getting stronger, than in a few years I might be able to use Cerebro without killing myself." Basilisk nodded, having been told all about Cerebro. "Can I ask you a favor?" The older redhead looked somewhat confused, but nodded. 

Amanda had an idea. She needed someone to read John's mind. Marie and Bobby had told her what they think may be happening, and she wanted to know for sure. "Could you possibly read Pyro's mind for me?" Jean looked ready to say no, but from the look on Amanda's face she could tell it meant a lot to her. "What for?" With a sigh Amanda looked around, making sure the boys weren't coming down the hall and told Jean their whole story from beginning to their present state. Reluctantly Jean nodded. She knew that if she couldn't read Scott's mind and she thought he was being overtaken by a mind-controller. She would want help. So she closed her eyes and focused. Because of her new found power she no longer needed to touch one's head to know what was going on inside.

-=-

John reached up and touched his head; it felt like his brain suddenly had an itch. 'What the hell?' Looking around, he couldn't see any reason as to why he should have that feeling, so he didn't say anything about it.

-=-

After what must have been two minutes of searching she opened her eyes and blinked. "Amanda, I'm sorry… I can't say for sure… but there is something wrong with him. There are empty spots in his memory, and they have indeed come around recently. I did find something though, and I think you oughta know about it. That night that you were just telling me about, where you found him in bed with Sarah… He was telling the truth Hon, that was Mystique." Amanda's face fell, 'He was telling the truth?' Somewhere in the back of her mind a voice shouted, 'Of course he was you idiot! Why would he lie to you about something like that? Geez!' As she felt the tears come to her eyes she turned her head away from the older woman. 'How could I have been so stupid?' Suddenly Jean's voice answered in her head, 'Hey. We all make mistakes, and you did what you thought was right. Just as he did when he left.' Amanda turned her head back to Phoenix, she had to know for sure now. "Can you try reading Enchantra's mind?"

-=-

Cheyenne leaned back in the seat. That disgusting Diablo and her ex-crush John had just returned and told them all what was going on. She sighed into the air, 'Why am I surrounded by incompetent fools?' As her head leaned against the back of the seat she got the strangest sensation somewhere inside of it. She didn't like the feeling and almost immediately she jolted back up, thinking it had something to do with the seat. But the feeling didn't stop. "What the hell is going on here?" Everyone looked at her in surprise, "What are you talking about? John just told us what was going on." She glared at the offender, Iceman is what he was called. "Not that you idiot, I know about that." Bobby narrowed his eyes at her, and the usually calm Marie looked ready to whip off her glove and slap the mind controller free-handed.

"I'm talking about whatever is happening inside my head."

"Well, no one knows what's going on there. Didn't know you had anything in there that something COULD happen to." John couldn't help but snort at Diablo's remark. 

Enchantra glared at Stephen. "I suggest you shut it before I make you do things you would regret." The green-eyed teenager walked right in front of her and glared down with one eyebrow raised. "Like what?" She found herself slightly regretting having said that, but shook it off and glared right back at him. "Like hurting your precious cousin, or worse, killing her." For some reason after she said this the itching sensation stopped in her brain. At this point it was John's turn to glare, he too stepped up next to Stephen and narrowed his eyes down at the bitch below him. "Ever say anything like that again and I can guarantee you'll burn for it."

-=-

Jean opened her eyes, slightly shocked at what she found. "You're right Amanda. She has been controlling him. She just threatened your life too!" Basilisk blinked, unsure of what Ms. Grey was getting at. "What do you mean? My life has just been threatened?" Jean nodded, "Yes. Seems she and Stephen had a little argument and she ended it with something about hurting you. Good thing John went in and fixed it, although I wish he would have thought of a less violent way to do so." Amanda blew a strand of hair out of her face. "John hurt her for it?" Phoenix thought about this for a moment before she shook her head, "No, not really. Just threatened her right back, he said…" But she never got to finish her sentence as the doors to Cerebro opened and out came a rather tired looking Charles Xavier. He sighed and looked at Jean, "I found Devon. It took forever and he might move again, but right now he's stopped. Here are the coordinates." With a nearly shaking hand he handed a piece of paper over to the woman who was like a daughter to him and she and his student ran off to the Lightning Bolt. Watching them leave he sighed, 'What has this got in store for us?'

---


	15. 14 Starting Over

The Dragon Tamer: Spellbound  
  
(PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. This is Part II in The Dragon Tamer series. I think most of you know as well as I do that I don't own X-Men or the characters (except the ones I make up, you should be able to tell who those are.) Enjoy!

Chapter 14: Starting Over

-=-

As Amanda and Jean approached the jet everyone got back into their seats. Scott leaned over to let the stairs down and they boarded. Amanda gave Cheyenne a very disgusted look when she walked by her, which the raven-haired beauty so happily returned. Once the plane got in the air Jean looked back to Amanda, 'Take him to the back and talk to him.' Basilisk looked up from staring at the floor and gave Jean a rather confused look, 'What if he won't listen?' Phoenix smiled, 'Don't worry. He will.' So with a defeated sigh Amanda stood up and held her hand out to John. "We need to talk about… stuff." That was all she could say as she once again glared at the smirking Cheyenne.

Pyro looked up at her for a few moments before taking her hand, unbuckling his seat belt and following her to the small room in the back of the jet. As they walked into the room he looked around, "Wow. The Professor can really get things done when he wants to." It was a small bedroom of sorts. Apparently the good Professor had decided he might sometime want to get away from the mansion. Amanda nodded and sat on the bed. He sat down next to her. "What do you want to talk about?" She took a really deep breath and the words literally spilled out of her mouth, making her sound a bit like Quicksilver. [1]

"I'm-really-sorry-for-this-but-I-had-Jean-read-your-mind-to-see-if-Cheyenne-was-controlling-you-and-it-turned-out-that-she-has-at-some-point-but-what-I-came-here-to-talk-about-it-the-fact-that-you-were-telling-the-truth-on-that-night-that-I-found-you-in-bed-with-Sarah-and-I-want-to-apologize-for-everything-I-said-and-did-and-can-you-forgive-me?" She sucked in another breath and looked at him. He blinked. All his mind registered from what she said was 'sorry… Jean… mind… Cheyenne… talk… it… truth… night… Sarah… apologize… and forgive.'

"Say again?" She sighed and repeated what she had previously said only much slower. His eyes got wider with every word that spat out of her mouth. He wasn't upset with her for having Jean read his mind. What upset him was the fact that Cheyenne had been controlling him. And try as he might he wasn't able to remember any of it. "Cheyenne… was controlling me?" The girl before him nodded, "Yeah. That's her power, that's why she's called Enchantra, she can enchant anyone's mind. Well, almost anyone; People like the Professor and Jean she couldn't, they're too strong for it."

He took another breath as the other thing she said hit him. He nodded, while trying to swallow down the lump that was beginning to form in his throat. "I forgive you, and I understand why you didn't believe me. I've never been angry with you for not believing it. You saw what you saw and you didn't want to believe anything else. I'm like that too. Hard-headed." With a defiant smirk he placed his arm around her shoulders and they walked back into the main area. Everyone was looking at them suspiciously. Amanda flashed Marie a grin and sat down next to her, as she had woken up. 

Stephen followed Amanda and sat next to her. "I want to talk to you." Holding back a sigh Basilisk followed him as well to the back room. As soon as she sat down he began. "I don't know half of what's going on here, and I'm not really sure I want to know. But what the hell is going on between you and the fire guy?" Amanda leaned forward and let the sigh out, "I met John last year, back then he was an X-Man and not a brother in the brotherhood. One night at a dance both of our dates ditched us and he asked me to dance. Long story short we started dating and while we and some of the other teenagers were out camping I was kidnapped by a man named Raptor who wanted to make me a weapon."

He sat down to listen and she continued, "It took a while but the others finally got to me and we were spread out everywhere. John saved me and we saved the others. When we got back to the mansion the Professor and the teachers, other than Wolverine, had all gone to Alkali Lake…" She stopped seeing her cousin's eyes widen, "That's where I was a while back. That's where I got my… claws." Amanda nodded, "Yes. And that's where Wolverine got his. And Lady Deathstrike too… You don't know about her do you? Well, I'll tell you in a minute. Anyway, like I was saying. When we got back to the mansion the adults were gone and it was just us teenagers in charge. Once again trying to shorten the story that night I found John in bed with who I thought was a girl from school. It turned out to be Mystique… er… the blue woman out there. She's a shapeshifter." 

Stephen flopped on his back, "Forget I asked." With a chuckle Amanda stood up and was about to leave before he spoke again. "You said you would tell me about this Deathstrike woman, who is she?" Amanda grinned, "From what I hear she was pretty cool. She was oriental and had a claw in each finger." Satisfied that she had told him more than enough she half waltzed back into the other room and sat back down next to Marie. Diablo was in deep concentration. 'Oriental? So that was who Stryker wanted me to meet. Oh well. Too late now.' With a sigh he forced himself to stand up and slowly made his way back to the others.

---

[1] A/N: I know Quicksilver, or Pietro, isn't in the movie. No matter how much I wish he were. But he still exists and I figured I might as well bring him up anyway oO


	16. 15 Devon Vs Diablo

The Dragon Tamer: Spellbound  
  
(PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. This is Part II in The Dragon Tamer series. I think most of you know as well as I do that I don't own X-Men or the characters (except the ones I make up, you should be able to tell who those are.) Enjoy!

Chapter 15: Devon Vs. Diablo

-=-

The plane landed half a mile from a place that looked remarkably like Raptor's, except it looked even older. Everyone but Stephen went in the back area to talk about their plan again, 'Geez, at this rate nothing's going to get done.' He stood up, pushed the button that dropped the stairs, and just walked right out with everyone staring at him. A few moments later Wolverine followed—'I better make sure nothing happens to him.'—Neither had asked permission, they just left.

-=-

"Erik, I simply will not allow those children to go in there. They will stay out here with me. And that's final."

Magneto frowned, "They can fight as good, if not better, than the 'adults'. Pyro and Enchantra are going; there's nothing you can do to stop them. But I strongly recommend that you allow the others to decide if they wish to come or not."

"Fine, Erik. You win, this time." The professor knew his old friend was right, the teenagers that he was trying to keep from harm have already proven they were more than prepared to defend themselves. "Amanda, Bobby, Marie, Evan. it's up to you whether or not you go." Amanda gave Cheyenne a leer that put a new definition to the word hatred; "I'm in." After all, she had to make sure that bitch didn't pull anything funny on them. "Me too." Marie sighed and watched the looks Cheyenne and Amanda were giving each other. Bobby noticed this as well, "Sure. What have I got to lose?"—'Besides my life…' Evan frowned, he didn't really want to go, but he wasn't about to let the others show him up, "Fine, whatever."

-=-

Stephen crept down the hall of the unfamiliar building. The whole thing was made out of some kind of stone; it actually looked like an eerie castle. After walking down multiple hallways and finding himself in the same place he started, he sighed and leaned against the rock wall. Then he noticed something. The wall directly in front of him looked almost fake. One of the stones in particular was actually sticking out at least an inch farther than the others. Cautiously he reached out and gave it a nudge. To his surprise the rock automatically moved inwards and a door opened to the side of it. As excited as he was to finally get somewhere, he still frowned. 'Great, this means the rest of them are going to be like this. All through this damn place.'

After walking for a while, opening random doors, and in general trying to get to either Devon or Tornado, he opened one last door and found himself face to face with several guards, and there, in front of those guards was a boy of about his own age. His eyes were completely black, even the 'whites'. 'This has got to be Devon.' Before he could act Devon kicked him to the ground and backed away, allowing the guards to stand in front of him. Almost protecting him.

The sixteen-year-old stood up and popped his neck. "You shouldn't have done that." Methodically he brought his hands together and cracked his knuckles. "You really shouldn't have..." Devon smirked, "What are you gonna do, claw me? Please, I'll give you a free shot if you can get close enough to me." His opponent's emerald eyes flashed dangerously, and even Devon found himself backing away even more. He snapped and all the guards rushed forward at once. "Take him out."

Diablo clenched his fists firmly to his sides as the sharp metal sliced through his own flesh and the claws extended their full length. 'God, how long can this continue to hurt?' But there was no time to think about that now, the guards were fast approaching. The first one was easy enough to take care of; the dumbass ran right into his left fist, he practically killed himself. But Stephen knew the others wouldn't be so easy.

The first death seemed to cause the others to go into a slight relapse. He used this time to look around for weaknesses. There were seven more guards, each one seemingly a replica of the first in weight and height. As Stephen looked over their heads he frowned, Devon had gone into another room. 'Damnit, just when I found him!'

He must have been too absorbed in thought because the next thing Diablo knew he was on his butt and there was a switchblade embedded into the side of his neck. Holding back a cry of pain he retracted his claws and reached up. Beginning to painstakingly pull it out. The guard who threw it saw this and backed up slightly. The blade was halfway out now, and he was concentrating on pulling it the rest of the way, but he was disturbed by a thought. 'Why are they all just standing there?' His answer came too soon as he heard running footsteps from his side. Sharply—and painfully—he turned his head and there was the switchblade guard running straight at him. Before Stephen's eyes the man leaped into the air and with a powerful kick from on leg he jammed the knife in deeper than it was before and with the other leg he slammed the teenager's head into a concrete pole that held up the ceiling. This left a large dent in the pole.

'Enough is enough!' His anger taking over now, Stephen stood up. His thought process reverting back into the demonic state it had only been in once before. With a sickening blood spurt he ripped the knife out of his neck and threw it straight into its owner's heart. Another guard thought he'd try his luck and came at Diablo prepared to punch. Before his fist had connected with the boy's face it was intercepted by a hand and delivered back tenfold. Stephen made one last blow to his jaw and knocked him against the dented pole. With a menacing glare he raised his eyebrows up at the others, who were backing away, "Anyone else?"

The rest gently fell onto their knees, letting Stephen know he was free to go by them. He was tempted to kill them all off, but thought against it. 'It might get back around to me.' So, without further interruption he ran the only way Devon could have gone. Upon entering the room, which was pitch black, he could hear light feet tapping, and smell Devon nearby. "Well, I see you made it past my guards." Diablo sneered, "That wasn't hard. I defeated three, the others gave up and practically bowed down to me." The tapping stopped for a moment. 'So, I hit a spot did I?' He chuckled, but it was lost into the darkness. He could sense Devon getting closer. 'Shit, I can't let him touch my skin. He touches my skin then I'm as good as dead.' 

Stephen extended his claws silently and relied on his senses to pick up Devon's movements. 

---


	17. 16 No Kid Stuff

The Dragon Tamer: Spellbound  
  
(PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. This is Part II in The Dragon Tamer series. I think most of you know as well as I do that I don't own X-Men or the characters (except the ones I make up, you should be able to tell who those are.) Enjoy!

Chapter 16: No Kid Stuff

-=-

Stephen turned sharply to the left and threw his hand in that direction with his claws out. He nearly connected with something. With a muffled shout Devon jumped back, Stephen now knew where he was. 'It ends now.' In a series of kicks he finally made full contact with Devon's chest and knocked him back against the stone wall. Diablo didn't hear any breathing, 'He must be done for.' He let out a heavy sigh as he headed out the door to find Tornado. 'That was far too easy. Hopefully the old man will be better.'

-=-

Cheyenne groaned as they headed into the familiar building. How did she end up coming back home? 'Oh yeah, the dork causing all this is our father.' John looked over at her and rolled his eyes, 'Why does she have to be so annoying?' She was definitely the type who complains about anything and everything. He held back a chuckle as he glanced over at Bobby, who was also looking rather amused. Once they got inside and reached a fork in the path they went their separate ways. The teens were to go one way, and the adults another. Jean was nervous about allowing that to happen, something just didn't feel right.

-=-

"So. They are finally here eh?" Tornado looked over at the caged Wolverine, who had already found him and had immediately been blown into an adamantium cage. Having previously ran into some of Stryker's other works he knew that the claws could cut through everything, except their own metal. Thankfully he and William Stryker had at one point been good friends, and the good Colonel had installed the cage into Gregory's vast estate. This floor was merely the one he used for times like this; the second floor was the one he lived on. He, his children, and their mother had lived here for a long time before he left. Quite a few years later he decided to take over Stryker's Alkali Lake base to make an army of his own. Sadly the military man had prepared for this and sent in what must have been the youngest slave he had. A boy by the name of Diablo if he wasn't mistaken. Gregory was winning, but sometime during the middle of the fight the kid went through some kind of transformation. His eyes went completely red, all over. And every possible weakness seemed to disappear. 

That was when he, Tornado, made his big mistake. He used his power and blew a huge propane tank at the child. Due to his surprised state he ended up missing the boy and it hit the wall behind him, that's when it blew up. The blast had knocked him into a two-year coma. He never heard what happened to the child. 'Probably didn't make it through the blast.' After he woke up he heard his ex-wife and daughter had left the building to move someplace homier. So he returned and began plotting his revenge on the world. While he was a friend of Stryker's he had heard much about the institute that Charles Xavier built. He didn't get a lot of information, as the colonel only had so much of it to give. But he heard enough. Then one day while walking around in the abandoned warehouse where he knew there would be delinquents he began hearing about a child called Devon.

That was when his plan began falling into shape. With that boy's help he would achieve what he needed. He knew his daughter was with them, and with her power he could begin his take-over of the world. He knew there were more out there like her, and if they decided not to help him, he would simply kill them off. Then there would be no troubles. Once again he turned his attention to the screen before him. There were a few cameras that didn't work, that would be where the children would have gone. 'Oh well. Evan and Cheyenne can take care of them. And if not, then I will when they get here. It's the adults I'm worried about.' 

"Let's see how they handle this." He smirked, every single one of the adult mutants, except for Wolverine of course, had walked right into his trap.

-=-

"It's a dead end." Storm looked around. The room looked endless from the hallway, but once inside it's easy to see that it's just a room. 'And a small one at that.' Jean frowned as she noted small holes in the walls. "We have to get out of here, now." They were all confused but ready to follow her, when a stone door slid from above the entryway and slammed shut. There was no way out. That was when the room began filling with some kind of gas. Everyone looked at Kurt, "Get us out of here!" He nodded and everyone grabbed on to him as he attempted to teleport. Nothing happened. "I can't! Somezing isn't letting me!" By this point the gas was beginning to take hold of them all and one by one they began falling down, asleep.

-=-

Cheyenne couldn't help but smirk. She knew her father was up to something the moment she walked into her old home. So she suggested they split up, luckily everyone fell for it. She was also the one who suggested the adults go to the left, and she and the others would to go the left. Well, she took over that one-eyed guy and made him suggest it. Same difference anyway. She also knew it wouldn't work if that German guy could get the adults out of the gas chambers. So she did a little toying with his mind while she and the others were walking. Making him act like he couldn't use his powers. 'By the time they wake up they'll be under my control.' She took a glance over at John, 'Why not give it one more shot?'

John blinked, he was feeling a little sleepy all the sudden. Then it hit him. He had felt like this before, it was always right before and after he blacked out. Pyro knew he hadn't blacked out a second ago, so it must mean he was about to. Glaring he looked over at Enchantra, the little bitch was concentrating all right. With all his will he was beginning to force her out of his head, "You're not going there again, slut!" This was enough to break her concentration as she glared up at him. "Fine." She looked over at Evan, and he nodded. They had reached the point anyway.

---


	18. 17 Final Four

The Dragon Tamer: Spellbound  
  
(PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. This is Part II in The Dragon Tamer series. I think most of you know as well as I do that I don't own X-Men or the characters (except the ones I make up, you should be able to tell who those are.) Enjoy!

Chapter 17: Final Four

-=-

They had reached what looked like a four-way stop. There was a small room directly to the left of them, and another to the right of them. Then there was hallway behind them and in front of them. At Cheyenne's gaze Evan grabbed John and threw him into the room to the right, Cheyenne did the same to Basilisk with the room on the left. Before Marie or Bobby could do anything Gust and Enchantra had both tripped trick stones in the wall that threw down doors. Blocking the two from each other, and from Rogue and Iceman. "This way you won't get any help!" Cheyenne was rather yelling at Amanda. "I told you I didn't like you, now I'm gonna do something about it. Let's see… How about you kill yourself?" Basilisk backed away and attempted to run over to the switch. Cheyenne laughed. "It's not that one idiot. That's a one way. Go ahead, try it." Amanda kicked the stone again, nothing happened. Cheyenne continued, "There's another one somewhere in this room. Only I know where it is. And I won't hit it until I've killed you. Of course there's also another on the outside in the hallway that opens both of the doors. But I'm pretty sure you're little friends won't be able to find it. And there's no point in yelling, every single wall is soundproof."

"John's gonna get out and he's gonna kill you if I haven't already." Enchantra smirked again, "Didn't I tell you? The room that you're little boyfriend and my brother are trapped in can only be opened from the outside. Once I've gotten rid of you I will kill your icy friend and his untouchable girlfriend and open that door up. If Evan has killed off John by then, I'll do it myself." Amanda blinked, this girl seemed to have everything figured out. 'Damnit! Wait, the others...'

"The adults will murder you when they find out." Once again Cheyenne merely smiled. "They're inside a gas chamber, and might I add they won't be waking up for a long time. And when they finally do come to, my father's plan will already be in action." Amanda opened her mouth to speak again but Cheyenne held up her hand, "Enough chit-chat. Let's get down to business." With that said she focused on Amanda, attempting to control her.

Basilisk, having been under another mutant's control before, knew what it felt like. And thanks to some practice with the professor she knew how to block a weak take-over from happening. So with all the strength she could muster she held Cheyenne at bay. Cheyenne wasn't extremely weak, however, and Amanda knew that if someone didn't do something soon. She wouldn't be able to hold her off too much longer.

-=-

John stood up, Evan had been continuously throwing him into the wall with his short surges of wind that came from seemingly nowhere. It hurt to stand up because when Evan first threw him in the room, he had twisted his left ankle. 'I've got to get my lighter.' Then a frightening thought hit him. Even if he did manage to get his lighter and send a fireball at Evan, he could just send a gust of wind and it would plummet back at him. 'Holy shit, what am I gonna do now?' He was leaning against the door, but he could find no stone to kick in that might open it. 

-=-

Marie and Bobby had spent the last ten minutes feeling around the doors for a trick stone. "I don't get it. It always works in movies." Bobby looked around. Then he saw it. Right next to the stone that Cheyenne had kicked to shut her door there was a tiny indentation. Without saying anything to Marie he ran over and began messing with it.

-=-

She was weak from fighting off Cheyenne, but if she could just knock her out or something… Suddenly a loud noise that sounded much like an avalanche rang through the air and it seemed to startle Enchantra. This gave Amanda enough time to run up and kick her towards the door. What happened next was almost too perfect to register. The noise had been the doors beginning to lift. John, because he had been leaning against his door, fell and slid into the hallway outside just as Cheyenne came tripping over him and fell into the other room. Before either Cheyenne or Evan could understand what was happening Bobby pushed the rock back in place and both doors slammed shut. "We better run before they get out of there."

Amanda's face suddenly broke into a relieved smile. "They aren't getting out of there. Enchantra told me that that door can only be opened from the outside. This whole place is like a maze and that's just one of the many things about it." John groaned from the floor. "Guys. I'm not sure if I can walk. I can barely stand. When Evan threw me in there I landed on my ankle wrong, I think it might be sprained."

-=-

Cheyenne banged her head against the door. "They all know how to block my power! I can't get to any of them. Damnit!" Evan paced, worriedly. "I knew I shouldn't have listened to you!"

"Chill out! Dad will take care of them when they reach him."

"You have no clue what those four out there can handle when put up to it! I know all the 

things they've done."

"I'm telling you that dad will take care of it! He won't let us down."

"That's what you said when he left us, and look where that got us!"

"Don't talk about him like that!"

Evan just glared at her. How could she still trust their father after all he did to them?

-=-

Amanda kneeled down next to John. "You have to come with us John. We can't just leave you here. Come on, we need you..." He looked up at her, she was just a shadow in the dim light. "…I need you." That was probably the only time he would ever hear her say that, so despite the pain he stood up, leaning on her and they all started walking.

-=-

'What's that?' Diablo sniffed again. There was a new smell in the air. He had been scrambling around for a while now, but now he thought he finally was getting somewhere. The new smell was either that teleporter Jean was talking about, or it was Tornado himself. All the guards smelled the same, and there weren't too many of them either. Spotting yet another trick stone he hit it and a door opened right before him. The room in front of him was highly lit up, and he could see the one known as Wolverine trapped inside a cage. 'Couldn't he just slice through the bars?' He sniffed again, 'Adamantium.' "So glad you could make it… Diablo."


	19. 18 Don't Run Out Now

The Dragon Tamer: Spellbound  
  
(PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. This is Part II in The Dragon Tamer series. I think most of you know as well as I do that I don't own X-Men or the characters (except the ones I make up, you should be able to tell who those are.) Enjoy!

Chapter 18: Don't Run Now

-=-

Gregory glared at the boy standing before him. Devon, who was in another room, had merely been unconscious for a few moments after being knocked out. He used the secret hallway to get to Tornado, and he told him all about it. That was when he learned that the boy who caused his two-year absence was still up and about. 'But not for long.' He brought his lips into a disgusted smile as the look of confusion briefly passed over the sixteen-year-old child's face. Then it was replaced by anger. "Tornado." Now all the memories from that night came crashing back down over him. This was the man who had tried to take over Stryker's Alkali Lake base. The one he thought was dead.

Tornado nodded and walked closer. "Tell me, how exactly did a mere child survive that blast that left me, a grown man, in tatters?" Stephen smirked, "Come on now, knowing Stryker you must know that the only way he could insert metal into me is if I had rapid healing." Diablo was so into the look of surprise that fluttered across his opponent's face that he didn't hear the sound of feet behind him until Logan got into it. "WATCH OUT BEHIND YOU KID!" 

The sound of the older man yelling startled Tornado so much that he ran at Stephen, who shot his claws out and inserted all six of them into the wind master's chest all the way up to his fists. "KID BEHIND YOU!" Once again Wolverine tried to stop it, but it was too late. Devon was standing behind Stephen and quickly wrapped his hands around his neck. His powers began working immediately. Wolverine looked away, not liking the look of petrifaction that was plastered on the teenager's face as his life began to drain. 'Where are the others?' Something caught his nostril and forced him to sniff the air. He heard footsteps, and the scent smelled like the kids. Devon, having taken in Stephen's powers, must have heard them too because he dropped the devil who immediately fell to the ground, lifeless. And ran back to the room he was in before, knowing he couldn't take on all four of the others. Still trying to not look at Stephen, Wolverine yelled to them. "ROGUE! IN HERE!"

-=-

As quickly as they could, with one member being injured, the four teens ran down the halls. Not really sure of where they were going. John had to rest, and as he voiced this he leaned one side of his body against the wall, so he could let go of Amanda. The others all sat down to take a breather as well. Then they heard what sounded like Logan. Marie looked up at once. "That was Logan. C'mon. It came from around the corner!"

-=-

As soon as they arrived in the room Amanda screamed and ran over to the body of younger cousin. He wasn't breathing. And as far as she could tell, his heart wasn't beating either. John, Bobby, and Marie all focused on trying to get Wolverine out of the cage. "How the hell did you get trapped in a cage?" The wolf just glared at John. "Just get me out! There's a switch on the other side of the room somewhere. That's where almost all of the controls are." Bobby ran over to the control area, where he spotted something very disturbing. 'So that's what happened to the adults.' On one of the security screen before him he could see a room filled with some kind of sleeping gas, but he could clearly make out the forms of the older mutants. Searching around the control panel he clicked the button labeled 'Cage' off and the button labeled 'Gas Chamber' off. He would just leave the rest alone. 

The second his prison lifted Wolverine darted after Devon. But the moment he reached the door it opened and Devon and a woman walked out. The woman was about twenty-two, average height, African American, and oddly had green eyes. Before they could take too good of a look at her she grabbed a hold of Devon and in a puff of smoke they were both gone. 'So that was the teleporter Jean was talking about.' Knowing it was pointless to try and find them now he walked over to where John was holding Amanda and looked down at the body of the boy who just might have saved the human race. His skin had returned to normal but he was clearly not going to be up and walking around anytime soon.

'He didn't even have a chance…' A shaky voice interrupted his thoughts. "He's dead." Amanda blinked back the tears. Stephen was dead. Her childhood best friend was dead. Her cousin was dead. None of those sounded right, it couldn't be happening. "Why?" She looked up at John, as if expecting him to answer. But he didn't say anything. Just tightened his arms around her as she rested her head on his shoulder. Marie was crying too, but she had walked over to where Bobby was once again staring at the monitor. His voice broke into the silence. "They're awake!" Turning her head she turned her attention to the screen as well and noticed that all the gas had cleared and the adults were slowly coming to.

John began to stand up, painfully. "Come on Amanda. We should go now." The words were soft and she stood up slowly with him. This time Wolverine came over and John leaned against him. "Give her a break for a while."

-=-

Charles Xavier sat in his office. Kaylin Delfuego, Jubilation Lee, Katherine Pryde, Jake Yeltzer, and Allen Patrick were all sitting across from him, looking rather worried. With a sigh he shook his head. No, they hadn't won yet.

---


	20. 19 Where Do We Go

The Dragon Tamer: Spellbound  
  
(PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. This is Part II in The Dragon Tamer series. I think most of you know as well as I do that I don't own X-Men or the characters (except the ones I make up, you should be able to tell who those are.) Enjoy!

Chapter 19: Where Do We Go

-=-

The trip back to the meadow was in utter and complete silence. Stephen's body had been carried to the jet and was now lying on the bed in the back room. Everyone but Amanda had gone back to say goodbye; she was already back there and hadn't left the room one time. Enchantra, Gust, and Magneto were the only ones who hadn't bothered. Oddly enough Mystique had indeed gone back and spent a good ten minutes saying goodbye. After everyone else was done Amanda walked back there and stayed with him the rest of the trip. The funny thing was that neither Mystique nor Magneto seemed angry or even upset about the fact that Evan and Cheyenne had completely gone against everyone. As a matter of fact, the only ones who were ready to kill them were the four teenagers that were with them. The X-Adults seemed rattled about it, but chalked it up to their father. Saying that he had persuaded them. 

Jean had told everyone that she and the Professor would keep an eye on Evan and if he were up to something from now on they would know about it. Evan was still worried though. He knew that once word got around to the rest of the students then his social life was as good as done for. As the Lightning Bolt landed in the meadow the silence became almost deafening. John knew he had to leave, although he didn't want to. Thankfully Magneto and Mystique were giving him five minutes to say goodbye as they started the chopper up. He sighed, Amanda still hadn't come out from the back room. He walked back to her and frowned, she looked dead sitting in that chair just staring at her cousin's body. It was as if she were in her own little world, he silently wished he could be a part of that world.

Kneeling down in front of her he gave her a tight hug and kissed her on the cheek. Then, knowing she wasn't in the mood for saying goodbye to yet another important person in her life, he left her like that. Without saying a word to her he just turned around and walked back out. Amanda, though she was not entirely sure what was going on, lifted her eyes slightly as she watched him leave. She wanted to say something, to tell him not to go, to stay here with her. But her mouth was numb and it wouldn't budge.

As John got outside he found Bobby there waiting to say goodbye to him. With another sad sigh he gave him and Marie a hug and then looked from to the other. "Take care of her for me, please." With that he walked the rest of the distance to the chopper and climbed in. Iceman and Rogue looked at each other and gave a half smile. They knew whom John was talking about, and they knew they would do their best. As they began the not so long journey back to the school Evan had a lot on his mind. 'If I go, then that will allow Amanda and John, and well, everyone to be happy. But if I stay, then I won't be happy.'

-=-

Professor Xavier sat in front of Amanda and sighed. The teachers were all around. "Amanda, I know you don't want to accept it. But he won't be waking up." She nearly fell out of her chair. "Just give him one more day! Please!" Jean frowned sadly. Somewhere along the way back Amanda had convinced herself that Stephen wasn't really dead and that he would open his eyes any day now. She was now trying to talk Xavier into allowing the body to be in the infirmary for a night. Which he wasn't allowing.

After a half-hour of arguing Charles finally gave in. "All right Amanda, all right. He can stay." He began rubbing his temples. The thought of having a dead body in the school for an entire night just didn't sound too appealing. They had been back at the school for about three hours and already things were messing up. "Perhaps you oughta go back to bed Ms. Orlan. Jean?" Jean nodded and helped the still struggling Amanda up to her room.

Logan sighed, "My god. She's losing it isn't she?" The bald man before him nodded and sighed as well, "Yes. I believe she may be doing just that. It isn't her thoughts that make me believe so, it's that the poor thing seems so sure of herself about it." 

"Professor. Where do you think Devon and the teleporter ran off to?" Storm looked over at Xavier, a little concerned. He shook his head and glanced out the window. "I just don't know Ororo. Until they choose to stop running, Cerebro can't locate either one. I have, however, done some research on the teleporter. Her name is Sandra Hyen. She is a wanted woman in Germany, Australia, and Europe. Apparently she figured she would try her luck here. Although I still can't see how she is tied with Devon and Tornado…"  


"Do you think she's a threat?" Logan raised an eyebrow, this woman sounded interesting, "I'm not entirely sure. I do know that teleportation isn't her only mutation. I can't figure out her other one, hopefully there aren't any more than two. But you never know."

Ororo Monroe looked down at her feet. She knew who the woman was. At least she was pretty sure she did. There was a girl by the name of Sandra with green eyes that grew up with her in New York, [1] and she was pretty sure it was the same woman.

-=-

Evan took one last glance around the mansion. He had only been there a short while, but already the word of what he did had spread throughout the whole school. There was simply no way he could stay here. And he knew just where he was going to go.

--

[1] The Ororo in the movie (at least according to the website) was born in New York.


	21. 20 Change of Plans

The Dragon Tamer: Spellbound  
  
(PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. This is Part II in The Dragon Tamer series. I think most of you know as well as I do that I don't own X-Men or the characters (except the ones I make up, you should be able to tell who those are.) Enjoy!

Chapter 20: Change of Plans

-=-

Evan stepped out of his car and walked up to Magneto's door. Cheyenne answered the door, surprised at who she saw there. "Evan? What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to Magneto." Without asking anymore questions she nodded and let him in. "Fine. Wait here and I'll go get him." Within moments of her leaving she returned with the master of metal. "Mr. Hope. What brings you around here? Nothing terrible I hope." That latter was said with a sly smirk, slightly hoping someone else died. Evan cleared his throat and sat down. "No, sorry. I came on strict business. I was wondering if that preposition still stood about Pyro and I switching places."

Cheyenne blinked, he was actually going to go along with that? "What made you change your mind?" Evan sighed and stared at his feet for a good two minutes before answering. "Well, quite frankly I can't live in the mansion anymore." Erik did a double take, "Odd. That's not like my old friend to kick a student out."

"He didn't kick me out. I left, they don't even know that I left actually. We were there for three hours and already all the students turned against me. I can't live like that, being an outcast. So I want to go ahead and switch places with Pyro." Magneto brought his lips into a wry smile. "Let's see what Mr. Allerdyce as to say about that. John, come in here please!" A very disheveled looking flame master came out of a room to the right. He looked dead tired. "What is it old man?"

As much as Magneto disliked being called 'old man' by him, he let it slide. "Young Mr. Hope here wants to talk with you about a plan you had a while back." This caught John's attention as he sat across from Evan. "Go ahead, I'm listening." Evan glared and continued, "Well, Pyro, don't get me wrong, there's nothing I would like more than to make it so you and that cheap bitch aren't happy..."

"Funny, I didn't know we were talking about Cheyenne." Enchantra raised an eyebrow and glared at John.

"…As I was saying! I can't live at the mansion any longer, as my reputation has been greatly smudged…"

"Imagine that. You turn your back on them all they hate you for it. What a concept."

"…Do you want me to finish or not?"

"I'll stop."

"Good. Anyway, I've decided to accept your idea of switching places."

John fought the urge to say no thanks, just to see the look on Evan's face. He nodded, "All right. Can I go then Mags?"

Magneto frowned, the young pyromaniac had been coming up with a lot of nicknames for him lately. "Fine, fine. Just go get your things, Mystique will drive you."

"Great!" John shot out of his seat and ran to gather his belongings. After ten minutes he was pretty sure he had everything. Mystique was waiting at his door, "Are you ready to go John?"

"Yeah."

"Then come on, we really haven't got all day to stand around and look for your things."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming."

With a final glare at Evan, John and Mystique walked out the door.

-=-

Amanda stood up. She had left her room about an hour ago and had simply been staring at her cousin's body. Which was still lifeless. "I need to get away for a while." She said the words out loud, as if telling Stephen where she was going so he wouldn't be worried. 'I've gotta stop doing that… Wonder what Marie and Bobby are up to?' With a silent sigh she practically crawled up the stairs and sauntered into the recreation room, finding her friends immediately. "Hey guys."

The pair leaped up, not expecting her to come around for a good while. "Amanda, are you feeling ok?" Bobby actually ran up and put a hand to her forehead to feel for a fever. She tossed it aside. "I'm fine. Or I will be fine, just need to get away from him for a while." Rogue nodded and patted the seat beside her. The minute Amanda sat down there was a knock at the front doors. "I'll get it." She stood back up halfheartedly and opened the doors. Her mouth fell.

Before her stood none other than John Allerdyce who immediately picked her up and twirled her around. "What are you doing here? Does Magneto know?" She looked a little worried. John pulled a hand away and gestured to the bags on the ground, her mouth gaped again. "You're here for good!" Everyone in the area, including the teachers ran over to welcome John back and bring his stuff in. With all the commotion, no one noticed the shadow slip out the back door and run around the side to jump in the car with Mystique. Or that the shadow had six claws sticking out.

-=-

As Stephen Solace sat in the passenger seat of Mystique's Mercedes he watched the happenings with an almost sad expression. Mystique looked over at him and smirked. "I'm assuming they all still think you're dead?" He nodded and turned his attention back to her. "So let me here again the plan." A deep chuckle sounded from her throat, "I'd better let Magneto explain things to you. He knows more than I do." With a yawn he nodded again, "I still can't believe they didn't know that I could do that." He was referring to his ability to make his heart slow down so much that it was nearly stopped. And then just bring it right back up, it had something to do with his rapid heal ability.

There was one girl in particular that caught his eye as they were driving off. She was lying underneath a tree playing with fireballs, they were literally on fire. And he wasn't really sure of her hair color, because if he wasn't mistaken it seemed to be changing every few seconds. 'Wonder who that is?' He shrugged it off and closed his eyes. He would find out eventually, when the war came.


	22. Epilogue

The Dragon Tamer: Spellbound  
  
(PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. This is Part II in The Dragon Tamer series. I think most of you know as well as I do that I don't own X-Men or the characters (except the ones I make up, you should be able to tell who those are.) Enjoy!

Chapter 21: Epilogue

-=-

Charles Xavier frowned into his hands. How was he going to tell Amanda? After John's coming home party died down, there was another commotion. The dead body was missing. After using Cerebro he found Stephen to be at Magneto's, and he wasn't being held captive either. 'What's wrong with people today?' Had Stephen merely been using them for something? What could he have gained from toying with their minds?

"Professor, have you found him yet?" He had just opened the doors to Cerebro when Amanda came up to him, John at her heels. There was simply no way he could inform her, until she was ready to handle it. For the moment she was unstable, and he didn't want to be the one to throw her over the edge. So praying that the lord would forgive him for this lie, he shook his head. "I'm afraid not Amanda. There doesn't seem to be any trace of him. But I will continue looking tomorrow." She nodded sadly and left with John's arm around her waist.

"Don't worry babe, he'll find her." John kissed her quickly on the forehead and let go of her. "I promised Bobby we would do a little one on one on the court. See ya later ok?" She put on a smile and nodded as he ran off to the basketball court. 'Guess I oughta find Marie since both our boyfriends ditched us.' The latter was thought with a smile, as she knew John had every right to play basketball with his best friend. "Amanda? Did he find him yet?" Basilisk turned around and spotted her own best friend sitting on the couch. "Nope. Not yet, but he says he'll look again tomorrow."

-=-

Diablo sat in his chair, lightly tapping his fingers on the table top. They were in a meeting, trying to recruit the teleporter and Devon. He still hated Devon, as he had, after all, tried to kill him. And he almost had, but Stephen played dead and finally came here where he belonged. Not that he didn't think it might have been fun back at the mansion. As his thoughts drifted lightly to the girl playing with fire. He just didn't belong there. He could tell right away that for the most part they were all the type of people who didn't do anything without a reason. He wasn't like that. He was spontaneous and he loved being able to do pretty much whatever he wanted. 

Somehow Mystique had seen right through his act, he wasn't sure how, but she had. And when she went back to say goodbye she offered him a place in the brotherhood, and told him all about it. He was interested to say the least, and they planned on what they would do. She had had a small talk with Enchantra and while Amanda was in her weakened state she half-way took over her mind and made Amanda think Stephen wasn't really dead, that he would wake up any time now. That's how they knew she would try and convince the Professor into letting him stay in the infirmary. Then around eight-o-clock she would come around and he would sneak out. It was even better that John had decided to come back, then there was a commotion and a reason for her to be there. There was a war coming between The Brotherhood and the X-Men. Magneto would make sure of that.


End file.
